Catch-22| Spencer Reid

seven

Grey knocks on the tech room door, waiting for a reply.

The door quickly swings open, a tall and stocky man standing at the door. Grey recognizes him instantly, as he had worked in the BAU building as a guard for a fairly long time.

"Hey, Travis, I need to speak with Agent Garcia, please and thank you." She doesn't wait for a reply, sliding past him to see Garcia sitting at the desk, staring at a black computer screen. She looks slightly annoyed.

No, actually.

She looks very annoyed.

Pissed off, even.

"Am I allowed to do anything yet?" Penelope blandly asks, clicking a pen.

Grey sits down next to her, motioning for the security guard to leave. After he shuts the door behind him, she speaks. "Yes, you are. I apoligize if Hotch was snappy. Sometimes he can be a jackass," Grey comments.

She probably wouldn't have used that exact phrasing if it weren't for her disagreement with him just a moment ago. Garcia seems to enjoy it though, as she completely agrees.

"A total jackass," Garcia groans, easing up slightly. "I mean, I just wanna look at puppy pictures, really, and he just- well, he just absolutely stonewalled me. It's not like I can even do anything illegal on these computers. They belong to the damn FBI."

"He gets like that, sorta sucks sometimes. He'll warm up to you, I promise. Now, unfortunately, I need help researching some stuff that aren't anywhere near as nice as puppies. There's been some child kidnappings and homicides..."

"Oh, yeesh. That's just lovely, sweetheart," Garcia sarcastically replies, plugging in the computers and starting up the system.

"Christine Morrison is the most recent abductee. She was snatched from the mall a couple hours ago. The building is on lockdown, but it may already be too late. The rest of the children are on this list. They had been abducted, killed 12 hours later, and discovered approximately 17 hours later."

"Okay," Garcia drags out, typing the names into a search engine. "They're all middle class with seemingly okay families. At least one present parent, some even have siblings."

Grey raises her eyebrows. "Seemingly okay. Would you be able to dig up some dirt on the families if any existed?"

"Believe me, I am the queen of getting dirt and digging deep. I will put my entire being into finding every last screw up that these families have made. If they walked past a homeless person without giving them some spare change, I will know." Clicking noises fill the room as she types phrase after phrase, looking for something of use.

Grey suppresses a laugh, smirking. "That's what I like to hear. Would it be okay if I stayed in here to get the updates?"

"Mhm. Just don't breathe on my neck, and please don't touch any of the equipment that I'm using. Thank you." She squints, not taking her eyes off of the screen as she types.

"Hm. Deal," Grey responds, watching the screen as well. Newspaper articles, birth certificates, and legal documents pop up at each click of the mouse. Grey attempts to scan through each of them as quick as possible, trying to find something useful.

It isn't successful, though. It seems like the families are genuinely fine.

"Uhg, come on. Get me something good, honey," Grey lowly says, staring at the screen.

Garcia shakes her head, clicking her teeth. "Trust me, baby, I'm trying. Five minutes, okay?"

"I'll take that," she says, reading through the file rather than glaring at the computer screen. Grey leans back in her chair, awaiting Garcia's next discovery.